


Sometime Around Midnight

by chilope



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Angst, Fake AH Crew, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-22 18:13:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6089656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chilope/pseuds/chilope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been several months since Ray left Fake AH, slipping out in the middle of the night. The crew decides to spend some time at a club, but Ryan can't seem to stop seeing ghosts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometime Around Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> I took some creative liberties.

The club is dark, filled with heavy air and heavier music. It sits in Ryan’s ears and on his chest, making it just a little bit harder to breath. He wasn’t drinking, but the disorienting atmosphere made him almost feel like he was. Geoff sat next to him, the table covered in eight empty glasses, and Ryan couldn’t help but notice that he wouldn’t take his eyes off of a pretty blond girl in a muscle shirt, dancing on the other side of the room. 

“You think she’d talk to me?” Geoff asked. He still wasn’t looking away from her. 

“Uh, maybe if you stop staring at her like a weird predator.” Ryan said. Geoff grinned, still not looking away. “If you want to talk to her you should go talk to her,” he continued. 

Geoff finally looked away, taking another drink from the only glass that hadn’t been entirely emptied yet. “Fuck it,” he said. “I’m the mother fucking Kingpin, I can talk to a pretty girl damnit!” He stood up abruptly and walked across the dance floor, bumping into a lot of people but seeming not to notice. It was crowded, even for a Saturday night, and the dim lights made it even more difficult to navigate. 

Ryan turned his attention to another part of the room. The place was filled with young people, most of them clearly in their twenties. Ryan felt uncomfortable with how much he and Geoff stood out, but Geoff insisted that there was no reason to be. It wasn’t their club, but most of the people there still knew who they were. Michael and Lindsay were in the middle of the densest part of the dancing, waving their arms and shaking their hips wildly. They had both gotten breathtakingly drunk within the first half hour of their arriving. Ryan shook his head slightly. He’d never been that drunk before and doubted that he’d like it. 

He pulled out his cell phone and opened Crossy Roads, hoping to distract himself. He wasn’t sure why he’d come in the first place, he hated clubs and music and alcohol. It had been awhile since he’d gotten out, though, and Geoff thought it might do him some good. At some point, he realized that he’d started tapping in rhythm with the music and set his phone down in frustration. It was 11:53 somehow. 

“Are you fucking playing with your phone?!” Michael and Lindsay were back, Michael with an outraged look on his face. “Dude we are at a fucking club, put your phone down and dance, Jesus Christ.”

Ryan grimaced. “Naaah,” he said, simply. 

Michael was not convinced. “Why the hell would you bother coming to a club on a fucking Saturday night if you’re just gonna sit in a fucking booth and play with your phone.” Michael was leaning onto the table, his hands gripping loosely at the glossy wood. “Fuck, even Geoff is gettin’ some.” 

Ryan looked over and sure enough, the girl that Geoff had been staring at was now completely hidden from sight by Geoff’s much larger form while they made out against the bar. And then, standing down the bar from them, Ray. 

Ryan felt the floor fall out from under him. Ray was wearing a plain white t-shirt and standing next to a girl that Ryan didn’t recognize. The girl leaned in close to him to say something, and Ray’s face lit up with laughter. Ryan looked away very quickly, his whole body feeling like it was being twisted around. His head was spinning. He focused all of his attention on the glass in front of him, the cold condensation running down his hands that suddenly felt way too hot. 

Lindsay threw her head back and groaned. “God this song is so good,” she said. Ryan couldn’t distinguish it from the rest of the songs that had played that evening. “I want to go dance some more.” She looked at Michael expectantly, her red dress disheveled and sporting a stain from a spilled drink. 

Michael narrowed his eyes at her. “Bitch, shut up, you’re drunk.” Lindsay giggled and leaned against Michael, who rolled his eyes but put his arm around her. 

The waitress returned with a diet coke and another whiskey for Geoff, and Ryan did his best to smile politely at her while she set them down. He chanced another glance toward the bar, telling himself that he wanted to see if Geoff was still there. He was. Ray had moved, though. Ryan ran his eyes over the throng until he spotted him and the girl dancing in the less crowded part of the floor. 

His stomach did another summersault and he turned back to the table, closing his eyes and put his head down, holding his drink tighter. 

“Dude, are you okay?” Michael asked, turning to look quickly at the crowd of people. “We can leave if you need to.” 

Ryan shook his head without opening his eyes. How long had it been? Three months? Four? What the hell was wrong with him. “I’m fine,” he said, lifting his head up again and opening his eyes. “The music is just really loud.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. 

“Maybe you should drink something,” Michael suggested. Ryan found that he wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea. After a beat, he reached out and took the class of whiskey that was meant for Geoff and downed half of it. 

It felt like swallowing fire. He struggled not to cough or spit it out again. It made his stomach turn several times and he wondered for a moment if he was going to throw up. When he didn’t, he finished the rest. Lindsay was laying against Michael, humming with her eyes closed, but Michael was staring at Ryan, his eyebrows raised. “Damn, that bad?” he said. 

Ryan smiled weakly. The room was starting to spin a little, the music seemed louder and the lights brighter. He looked around to find Ray again, who was back at the bar with the girl, holding a drink and talking. Ryan didn’t realize he was staring until Ray suddenly turned his gaze right toward him. For the fourth time that night, Ryan felt his stomach lurch uncomfortably. He looked away as quickly as he could, but he could still feel Ray’s eyes burning holes in his head. Michael was looking seriously concerned now. Without thinking, Ryan stood up and mumbled “Bathroom” while heading toward the neon men’s room sign in the back. 

He was mere feet away when he felt a hand grab his arm. He spun around, his heart and head pounding, to find Ray standing there, smiling slightly. “Hey man, it’s been a while,” he said. Ryan didn’t say anything. He felt like his tongue was being pulled down his throat. The walls felt as though they hadn’t stopped moving when he did, and it was making his stomach hurt even more. Ray continued uncertainly, “How’ve you been?”

Even next to the thick cloud of bodies, Ryan could smell him. He smelled like smoke and just a little bit like flowers. Ryan swallowed and opened his mouth, hoping that maybe something would come out, but it didn’t. Ray shifted on his feet and put his hands in his pockets. “Listen,” he said, dropping his gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry for leaving like I did. I just… I needed to move on. I needed something different…” He still wasn’t looking up. Ryan wanted to say something but nothing came to mind. His brain was too foggy, the alcohol finally starting to do its job. 

After a tense minute, “’s fine.” It was weak and scratchy and gave just a little too much away. Ryan cursed himself, cringing internally. Ray finally looked up again and smiled. His hair was ruffled and he clearly hadn’t shaved in a while. Ryan remembered the last time he’d seen him, naked and a little bit sweaty on the bed next to him. His face flushed, his whole body felt way too hot. He remembered kissing him, feeling _so fucking happy_ that he got to feel those lips against his. And then he was gone. 

Ray shifted uncomfortably and glanced around the room. “Well uh… It was nice to see you.” He turned to leave and Ryan shook his head, unable to get anymore words out. He watched Ray dissolve back into the crowd and then moved as quickly as he could back toward the table where Gavin and Meg had now joined Michael and Lindsay. He slid into his seat and grabbed the new whiskey that a waitress had brought while he was gone. He finished it in three large gulps and set it down, grimacing. Gavin made an impressed gurgling noise, but Ryan barely heard it. He glanced one last time toward the bar, where Ray was holding the girl’s hand and leading her toward the door. On his way out, he looked back at Ryan, but then he was gone. Again. 

“Dude seriously, what’s up?” Ryan turned toward Michael, who had a look of sincere worry plastered across his face. The other three were clearly on the verge of sleep. “You look like you’ve seen a fucking ghost.” Ryan shook his head and looked away. The world was no longer standing still. His head felt like it was filled with roiling waves, his stomach in ropes. He stood up shakily and moved toward the door, Michael’s shouts of “Dude, what the fuck?” muted by the loud music and thick air.  
Outside, the night is cold, especially for Los Santos. The streetlights dance around the corners of Ryan’s vision, making his feel sick. He bumps into several light poles on his way down the sidewalk, eliciting laughter from the crowd standing outside the club. Normally, he wouldn’t hesitate to massacre the whole group, but now his head is swimming and his legs feel like they’re made of rubber and he isn’t quite sure that any of it is actually happening. He thinks vaguely of looking for Ray, holding him down and forcing him to explain why he’d up and left in the middle of the night. The thought makes his heart beat faster. 

But beyond the lights of the club the street is empty. Ryan walks further away from the noise of the building, until he feels as if his legs will collapse under him, and then sits on the curb. The cool air kisses his skin, making him feel a little steadier after the heat of the club. In the distance, a police siren goes off. Ryan smiles to himself. “Give ‘em hell,” he whispers.

**Author's Note:**

> I?????? Don't know????????? Also, in case you care, Geoff was making out with Griffon and Ray was with Tina. But anyway.


End file.
